Sutherland champion Flyers moving to junior A league
The Leamington Flyers are ready to chase an even bigger prize.
Just over a week after claiming the first Sutherland Cup title in franchise history, the Flyers announced they are leaving the junior B Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League to join the junior A Ontario Junior Hockey League.
“This has been two years in the making,” Flyers general manager Justin Solcz said.
“The Sutherland Cup is a great accomplishment. The goal, in the near future, is to win a national championship.”
Over the years, the Flyers and Lasalle Vipers have watched players jump from their respective program to play junior A hockey. By joining the OJHL, the Flyers hope to keep players closer to home and not feel the need to make that jump in order to advance their hockey careers.
“The purpose of our (ownership) to do this and make this investment so we can keep players local to play at the junior A level,” Solcz said of the ownership group featuring Jason Melo, Dan Jancevski, David Halliwill, Cam Crowder and Craig Mahon.
“There's nothing in southern Ontario, so players would develop and you couldn't keep them here from start to finish. In this scenario, they can play the highest level of hockey in Ontario outside major junior and stay at home.”
Solcz said the Flyers do not want to view themselves as competition for area junior B teams in Lasalle or Chatham.
“We're looking forward to working with those teams and developing a partnership and keeping players in Ontario,” Solcz said. “We want them to be able to go from minor to junior B and then junior A all in this area.”
The Flyers jumped from the Great Lakes Junior C Hockey League to junior B in 1992-93 and had 11 first-place finishes since that move. The GOJHL wished the organization well with the move forward.
“We appreciate the long-standing relationship with the Flyers and we would like to wish them the best of luck as they begin their first OJHL season in the fall,” the GOJHL said in a release.
One of the biggest changes for the Flyers will be bringing on head coach Dale Mitchell as a full-time employee.
“I thank the ownership group and Justin Solcz for allowing me to continue the growth here in Leamington,” said Mitchell, who won back-to-back Memorial Cups with the Windsor Spitfires.
“We have always believed you can develop and win at the same time and we will strive for that in the 2023-24 season.”
Solcz does not expect the move to be more costly for the team. While there might be the odd road trip with multiple games, the bulk of the schedule will be played on weekends as it was with the GOJHL.